WRAP Nighttime blasts, gunfire, Fatah s'bite, morning scenes; audio gunfire
(13 Jun 2007) ++NIGHT SHOTS++ Gaza City, Gaza Strip, June 12 2007 1. Various of Gaza City skyline/ UPSOUND: gunfire Ramallah, West Bank, June 12 2007 2. Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Azam al-Ahmed and official, walking along corridor 3. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Azam al-Ahmed, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister: "We haven't decided not to participate, but what we have indicated is that one of the steps we might take if the violence doesn't stop is not to participate in the government." 4. Al-Ahmed walking away Gaza City, Gaza Strip, June 13 2007 5. Wide of street in Gaza City with smoke rising on skyline 6. Wide of people in street with smoke rising in background 7. Smoke coming out of building 8. Wide of apartment blocks with smoke rising in foreground/ UPSOUND: gunfire 9. Wide of buildings with smoke rising/ UPSOUND: gunfire 10. Gaza skyline, AUDIO: Gunfire Gaza City, Gaza Strip, June 13 2007 11. Pan across skyline 12. Mid shot of buildings/ UPSOUND: gunfire 13. Wide of city/ UPSOUND: gunfire STORYLINE: Fierce battles over key security positions spread to central Gaza early on Wednesday, with Hamas fighters seizing control of the coastal strip's main north-south road and putting themselves in position to cut off reinforcements to beleaguered Fatah forces as the internecine fighting lurched towards all-out civil war, threatening to rip the coastal territory apart. Gunmen fought for control of high-rise buildings in Gaza City that serve as sniper positions. Six militants died in clashes near the besieged house of a senior Fatah commander in the city, in addition to four killed there on Tuesday, Hamas said. Two other people died of wounds sustained in earlier fighting. Violence in Gaza this week between the two factions, which nominally share power in the Palestinian government, has left more than 50 reported killed since Monday. Hamas also said it seized and bulldozed a key Fatah outpost that controls Gaza's main north-south road, where security forces often stopped cars carrying Hamas supporters. Hamas said it brought a bulldozer to flatten the post, made up of a mobile home and several shacks. The fighting took the conflict from the level of street skirmishes to pitched battles between heavily armed forces. Later on Wednesday morning smoke was rising from an unidentified building in Gaza and sporadic gunfire could be heard. On Tuesday Hamas gunmen overran the headquarters of a Fatah-allied security force in northern Gaza, killing at least 17. Better-trained Fatah forces displayed lack of leadership and motivation against the gunmen of the Islamic Hamas, and in some cases were outgunned. Both sides said Gaza has descended into civil war, as the death toll from two days of fighting reached 37. The conflict has escalated further since the Fatah central committee decided to suspend the activities of its ministers in the government it shares with Hamas. In an emergency meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the movement decided that a full withdrawal would be a possibility if the fighting does not stop. "We haven't decided not to participate, but what we have indicated is that one of the steps we might take if the violence doesn't stop is not to participate in the government,'' said Fatah member and Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister, Azam al-Ahmed on Tuesday. Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a violent power struggle since Hamas defeated Fatah in January 2006 legislative elections, ending four decades of Fatah rule. On Tuesday, Hamas ignored pleas by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and exasperated Egyptian mediators to honour a cease-fire. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
